The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) today celebrated the groundbreaking on its Museum Park expansion project. The groundbreaking marks the start to a construction project that includes the creation of tree-lined parking lots, bike and walking paths, and a central elliptic lawn where Museum and community programming will take place. The phased project is expected to be complete by summer 2016.
The long-term plan for the Museum Park, which already draws more than 150,000 annual visitors, includes a new campus entrance and streetscape, increased paved parking capacity, woodland and meadow restoration, additional trails and infrastructure, improved sustainability measures, and additional outdoor works of art.
The Museum enlisted landscape architecture and urban design firm Civitas, Inc., of Denver, Colorado, to develop the plan. The Museum’s director of planning and design, Dan Gottlieb, is leading the project.
“The goal of this plan is to connect people, art, and nature in a sustainable way,” said Gottlieb. NCMA Director Larry Wheeler added that the Museum “has always been a community gathering place, but we now have the opportunity to be a catalyst for change.”
The improvements to the NCMA campus would positively impact the Blue Ridge Road corridor by offering attractive pedestrian-, bicycle-, and transit-friendly development. “The Blue Ridge Corridor Alliance applauds the NCMA’s plans to improve its beautiful Museum Park along Blue Ridge Road,” said Stuart Levin, MD, president of the Blue Ridge Corridor Alliance. “The Alliance’s stakeholders are committed to the Corridor becoming a distinct destination, and the Museum’s exciting vision will initiate meaningful transformation in the area.”
The plan sets forth a vision for fully developing the Museum Park, creating a stronger connection between interior and exterior spaces while fostering environmental sustainability.